


We'll Go Down Swinging

by linwendlandt11



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Heist fic, Lydia and Kira are friends, Mild Humor, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Stiles is a lord, Theft, There is some explicit language, no supernatural or werewolves, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-04-28 22:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5108459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linwendlandt11/pseuds/linwendlandt11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lydia was good at her job, really good. And when you work as a rat for the Overlord, that's saying something. She never expected that the one thing that could bring her down would be a snarky brown-haired teenage boy. Oh well, at least if they're going to fall in love, they're going to go down swinging. </p><p>AU where Lydia is a rat (a thief) for the Overlord, who is a big boss in the Underworld of Beacon Hills. After she and her team infiltrate Lord Stilinski's mansion for a job, they spark a war with the Nemeton, a rival gang led by the Demon Wolf.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Where we first meet our hero

The sun hung low in the sky, the ball of fire just touching the horizon. A girl stood watching the light descend beyond the city limits. She was of small stature, with warm brown eyes peeking out from below her cap pulled low on her brow, and wisps of strawberry blonde hair escaping from the edges. Wearing a button down linen shirt with suspenders and a pair of trousers rolled up just above her stocky boots and a large overcoat to ward off the chill of early fall; she looked like any other boy roaming the streets. Her fingerless gloved hands were stuffed into her pockets, thumbs jutting out, oozing nonchalance. No one could have guessed the turmoil roiling just beneath her cool demeanor.

She hated doing this. She wished she knew why Derek always sent her to cover for Scott to conduct the transactions. Her gaze focused on the descending sun. _Almost time_ she thought to herself. Checking the bag resting at her feet one last time, she turned her back on the fading light and faced the dark entryway that led onto the rooftop where she stood. She tapped her fingers nervously against her leg. By the time the light had completely faded into twilight, her finger had beat out several staccatos.

Finally, a shadowy figure appeared in the entryway, and steadily made its way over to where the girl stood. As it got closer, the girl could begin to make out what visible features there were of the figure. The height and build definitely suggested a man, with a steady step and a self-confidence hanging about him. His eyes were a dark brown that fit in perfectly with his shady demeanor, and his thin lips seemed to be permanently set in a sneer. Coming to a stop in front of the girl, he appraised her for a solid minute.

Feeling increasingly uncomfortable under his piercing gaze, the girl spoke snappishly, “Whenever you’re done having a good look, can we get down to business before I freeze my ass off out here? If you haven’t noticed, it’s pretty chilly, and I’ve been waiting forever for you. I’d like to get someplace warm before I lose a body part.”

With her sharp words, the thin lips of the man quirked upwards into a predatory smile. “I could always warm you up if you so desire, my sweet.” He replied smoothly.

“Only if I was dead or mentally ill.” The girl retorted with a snort. “Let’s just get to business. I assume you have the cash?”

The man appraised her once more, and then let his lips fall into a smirk. “Well, if that’s how you want to play it, then yes, I do. It’s right here.” He held out a rucksack that he had retrieved from inside his voluminous black coat.

“It better all be there,” the girl responded with a glare. “The Overlord doesn’t like to get shorted and I don’t want to have to make another trip out in the cold. Dealing with you once is already enough for me.”

He smiled once more, “It’s all there. You can even count it if you like.” He tossed the bag over to her. She caught it deftly, and swiftly opened and counted the money within.

“Looks like it’s all there.” She pulled the drawstrings of the bag closed, and bending down, she picked up the bag lying at her feet and threw it over to the man. “You can check it too, if you like.”

The man nodded once, and immediately opened the bag to inspect its contents. “Well, I guess the Overlord does lives up to his reputation,” the man replied with a shake of his head and a small chuckle. He closed the bag and slung it over his chest. “It was an absolute pleasure doing business with you, my sweet.” He sneered at her and gave her a one more look. “See ya around, sweetie,” and with those words, he turned and melted back into the darkness from whence he came.

As soon as the man’s suffocating presence left the rooftop, the girl let out a sigh of relief. She was really going to have to talk to Derek about their clientele. That man had been altogether too sleazy and shady for her taste. Throwing the rucksack over her shoulder, she made her way to the corner of the rooftop opposite of where the man had come from. Upon reaching the edge of the building, she leaned over and hoisted herself up on the edge, kicking her legs for extra lift.

 _Curse these short legs_ , she thought to herself. Finally managing to scramble onto the ledge, she stood up slowly to gain her balance. On the other side of the roof was an iron ladder built into the wall. Putting her foot onto the first rung, she began the long climb down to the next level of buildings below her and then made her way on towards her next destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fic, so please review and comment! I know it's a short first chapter, but they get longer!


	2. Meeting with the Overlord

The girl paused before knocking on the door. The Overlord was a powerful and dangerous individual, and an unpredictable and paranoid man, you could never tell what mood you were going to get when engaging with him. One minute he was all business, and the next he was ready to tear your throat out. It depended on the day. She hoped he would be in a business mood today, but if there was ever a man to be worthy of such paranoia and irrationality, it was the Overlord.

No one actually knew what his real name was, not even his Second-in-Command. It had been a hotly debated topic between the members of the Underworld for many years, which was a feat in and of itself. The Underworld of the city of Beacon Hills was a dangerous place to make a living due to the incessant backstabbing and double-crossing. Only a select few could weather the storm and fight their way to the top. The Overlord was one such man. He had been in the business as long as anyone could remember, and was a legend.

The story that was considered to be the truest stated that he started out as a runner for the Drug Kingpin at the time, a tyrant by the name of Redwater Jones. It was said that Redwater Jones killed so many men that when he threw them all in the river, the waters turned red from all the blood, and he became known as Redwater. The Overlord was said to always harbor ambitions beyond his station, and started to seed discord and mistrust among Redwater Jones’ men. Eventually, he led a coup d’état against Redwater and killed him, thus effectively taking over his role as the Drug Kingpin. He then declared himself the Overlord, and over the years expanded his dealings into thievery, bribery of public figures, and assassinations. He was also extremely mistrustful of his subordinates, fearful that one day they would rise up against him just as he had done against Redwater Jones. He ruled his dealings with an iron fist, and no one dared to question or cross him. His power and dominating spirit quelled any rebellion against him, and is the chief reason he was still in power today.

Keeping all this in mind, the girl straightened her coat and cap and rapped sharply once upon the door. A few seconds later, the door was opened and she was face to face with the Overlord’s personal secretary, a man by the name of Adrian Harris, although everyone called him Shifty Harry behind his back. He ushered her in without a word, clearly expecting her. She followed him into the antechamber, and sat down in a chair opposite Shifty Harry’s desk to wait to be summoned by the Overlord. Shifty Harry walked briskly to a pair of large double doors set in the opposite wall and knocked twice before entering. He was gone for a moment before returning and sitting back down behind his desk. The girl knew she would have to wait, although she was not sure how long, the Overlord was clearly with a client or she would have been immediately admitted.

While she waited, she observed Shifty Harry. He was a tall thin man, with jutting features. His dull green eyes constantly shifted from side to side (hence the nickname) beneath his thick square glasses with the occasional flare of intelligence resonating in his eyes. His dark brown hair was slicked back with some sort of grease, and his clothes expressed a notion of trying too hard to look professional while simultaneously failing. He was clearly a man who valued his position, and wanted to look the part.

The girl was interrupted in her musings as a loud voice reverberated from inside the closed doors. “That is not within agreement! I want at least two more kilos before paying such an astronomical price!” The voice quieted as presumably the Overlord answered him. “Ridiculous!” The voice cried out once more. “My master will surely hear of this. You have grown all together too greedy and corrupt. We will certainly take our business elsewhere.”

With those words, the double doors flew open and an irate man stormed from them, barely sparing a glance towards Shifty Harry and the girl. He continued his march out the door and his loud footsteps soon faded into the distance. The girl and Shifty Harry exchanged glances. That was not going to go over well. No one spoke to the Overlord like that and got away with it.

“You may now enter.” An emotionless voice emitted from the still open doorway. Exchanging one more knowing glance with Shifty Harry, the girl stood and hefted the rucksack higher on her shoulder. She walked slowly over to the open doorway and peered in before entering. The dim interior didn’t leave much for imagination, with only some sparse Spartan furnishing adorning the room. She took a deep breath to calm her racing heart before entering. Closing the doors behind her, she proceeded to seat herself in the rigid chairs in front of the immense desk. They were clearly designed with the intent of conducting quick business dealings. She bowed her head in submission, waiting for the Overlord to speak.

“Report rat.” The stern voice finally relented. The girl looked up into the piercing ice blue eyes of the Overlord himself. He was a strong built man, with clearly rippling muscles bulging under his shirt, and his tone brokered no rebellion. His hair was streaked with gray, betraying his age, but he showed no signs of it affecting him one bit. He was dressed in simple, but expensive clothing leaving the overall impression of an appearance of an under assuming man, but his powerful presence quickly dissuaded any notion that this man was anything but weak.

The girl quickly cleared her throat before launching into her report. “I met the client’s advocate precisely at sundown at which we exchanged the merchandise without any complications. I inspected the cash, and found it to be the correct amount specified at $30,000. He took the product, and left without incidence. I then proceeded back to headquarters immediately.” Standing up, she swung the rucksack off her shoulder and placed it on the desk in front of him. “Here is the money, sir.”

He plucked the rucksack off the desk from where it lay and inspected the contents, counting out the cash. “Everything seems to be in order. Good job, rat. Now, go report to the treasury and drop off the proceeds. We’re finished here.”

“Yes sir.” She replied with a small bow. With a wave of his hand, she exited the oppressing room, closing the door behind her, and walked back to where Shifty Harry still sat at his desk. “I’m finished for the day and I’m going to report to the treasury and then to the Rat Foreman.” She told him. He nodded once absentmindedly, and she made a quick exit out the door into the hallway breathing out a sigh of relief.

-

After dropping off the rucksack at the treasury with the attendant, Cora, the girl made her way to the Rat Foreman’s office to sign out and receive any incoming jobs. Reaching her destination, she once again stood to attention outside the doorway and knocked once.

“Enter.” A deep voice emitted from beyond the closed door. Opening the door, she quickly stepped through and strode into his office. “Ah, Lydia, good to see you back. I assume all went well?” The tall buff man sitting behind the desk asked her as she plopped down into one of the chairs in front of the desk.

“It was all good,” she said sighing, “The advocate was a real sleazebag though. I swear he was undressing me with his eyes the entire time, the pervert.” She shifted in the chair, and looked pointedly at him. “Listen Derek, the next time Scott is out sick again, don’t call on me to pick up his slack. Call Isaac or something.”

He raised an thick dark eyebrow at that statement. “Call Isaac?” he repeated. “You have met the kid, right? He’d be so freaked from the encounter that he would be hiding under the bed for a week. Besides, he wasn’t even available. Nah, you were the best option at the present moment.”

Lydia rolled her eyes. “Fine. You’re right. Isaac would have been a terrible choice. But Boyd on the other hand…” she trailed off pointedly.

“Yes, Boyd would have been better, but he was off on a run with Isaac. So, basically, we were left with you.” He finished her complaining with a definite air. “But I’ll give you an extra bonus for this job for having to put up with the guy. How does that sound?”

She let out a huff of air. “Fine. But don’t expect this kind of thing to happen very often. I’m very protective of my body, and I’d like to keep it how it is.”

Now Derek was the one to roll his eyes. “Whatever. You should be happy with what you get. Now, before I write down your pay to take to Cora, I need to discuss an upcoming job with you.” Lydia sat up straight in her chair and scooted to the edge, primed and ready for the new assignment. She loved each and every challenge the job presented and she knew Derek wouldn’t disappoint. Chuckling softly at her eagerness, he slid the closed pamphlet that was sitting in front of him across to her. Her fingertips latched onto the dossier greedily.

Pulling open the folder, she scanned the contents. Looking up at Derek, she raised an unbelieving eyebrow. “Are you serious? Lord Stilinski’s home? That’s a lot taller order than what you normally give me.”

“Are you saying you can’t handle it? I can always give it to a different senior rat if you want.”

“No!” she exclaimed, hugging the folder close to her chest. “No frigging way. Of course I want the job. I get to pick my own team, right?”

“Naturally. I expect your team to be picked and ready to begin by the end of the week. When your team is assembled, report back to me and I’ll give you more instructions. In the meantime, study that dossier and have it memorized by the time you return. The scouts have already scoped out all the entry points and weaknesses, but I expect you to conduct your own stakeouts as well.”

“I will have my team assembled and ready to move out by the end of the week. Thank you sir. We will not fail.” She stood and saluted him.

Before returning the gesture, he quickly wrote down something on a piece of paper and gave it to her. “Take this to Cora, and then get to work.” He then saluted her back, and waved her out the door.

As she closed the door behind her and began her trek down the hall, she was practically skipping. She had only been a senior rat for a few months now, and she was ready to prove herself to Derek. This job could just be the turning point of her career. Her track record was nothing to scoff at, but this job could really set her above and beyond the others. Reaching the treasury, she was practically bursting with joy.

Cora, the attendant of the treasurer of the Underworld’s money, sat watching her with slight amusement. She was of the same age as Lydia, around 18, and had gorgeous dark brown hair and big brown eyes. She also had a constant stream of boyfriends. It wasn’t often Lydia showed such emotions, and Cora was marginally surprised at the display.

Leaning her elbow on the counter, Lydia slid the paper with numbers on it over to Cora. “You won’t believe what just happened.” She gushed to Cora. Although the girls weren’t close, in fact they often had a slight rivalry between them, but regardless of that Lydia couldn’t help her excitement in bragging to the girl. “Derek just gave me my first big assignment. He gave me Lord Stilinski’s house. How’s that for confidence? I’ve only been a senior rat for 3 months, and they already trust me enough to give me this kind of job.”

Cora’s eyes lifted slightly upwards in response. “Well,” she replied back snippily, “I hope you don’t screw it up. The Overlord doesn’t look favorably upon failures of a big job like that.”

Lydia smiled cattily at her, “Well,” she replied, “at least I’m actually getting to do an important job for the Overlord instead of just manning the counter, but thanks for the concern. I’ll be sure to give it my all.”

Cora just huffed at her in response, and then got up and sauntered back behind the counter to get Lydia’s pay. When she came back, she set the drawstring bag and the paper back down on the counter and pushed it over to Lydia. “Well, good luck with the job. Hope you don’t get killed or caught.” She smiled tightly.

“Thanks!” Lydia winked at her. “I’ll be sure to do that.” And with that, she picked up her pay and skipped out the door. Waving goodbye to Erica as she passed the front desk, she exited the revolving doors and walked out into the night towards home.


	3. Getting the Team Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! New Chapter! I'll probably try to update weekly so stay tuned!

Lydia stuck her key into the door of the dingy apartment that she and her fellow rat, Kira, shared.

“Damn.” She muttered to herself as the door refused to open. Jiggling her key in the door, she heaved a frustrated sigh and kicked the bottom of the door. “Ow!” she exclaimed, hopping around on one foot while she grabbed the smarting appendage. “Stupid door.” She said under her breath. “Ugh, I can’t wait to move out of here.”

“Well that will be the day,” a voice proclaimed sarcastically behind her. Lydia turned at the sound of the voice to see her best friend Kira coming up behind her in the hallway. “Besides,” the small petite Asian girl said, “You just have to know how to treat him right.” Smiling at her, she quickly sidestepped Lydia and twisted the key gently in the lock.

Hearing the lock click, Lydia glared at her. “I don’t understand why the door likes you and not me. It’s not like I did anything to it!” Lydia exclaimed as she entered the apartment behind Kira.

“Maybe its because you kick it all the time.” Kira threw over her shoulder. “It likes a gentler touch.”

Lydia rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She waved a careless hand. Making her way over to their old and worn sofa, she dropped down onto the cushions and sunk into them with a sigh. “You won’t believe the day I had. First, I had to cover for Scott who’s out doing who knows what. Derek thinks he’s sick, but that’s the third time in the last month. Something is definitely up with that boy.”

Kira started at Scott’s name, and then blushed furiously. “I’m sure that whatever he’s doing, it’s for a good reason. You know he has his mom to take care of. You should be more forgiving of him.”

Lydia raised a knowing eyebrow at Kira’s outburst. “Oh my god. Why don’t you just ask Scott out already? You’re clearly head over heels for him. Just put yourself out there. What’s the worst that can happen? He says no? You’ll still be friends, and you’ll have your answer.”

Kira shook her head furiously. “I couldn’t do that!” she exclaimed. “Besides, I know he doesn’t like me that way. He’s always mooning about some unavailable dark-eyed brunette beauty in his school. So there’s nothing to it, and that’s that.”

Lydia rolled her eyes in exasperation before continuing her long spiel. “Well, since you’re in denial, I’ll just continue on with my life. Anyway, so I had to cover for Scott in the delivery, and this total and utter sleazebag was the advocate for the client and he was such a pervert! Ugh. It makes me shudder just thinking about it. Although that sucked, afterwards, when I went and reported to Derek like normal; he freaking gave me point on a job for Lord Stilinski’s house. Freaking Lord Stilinski! Oh man, this could really get us some cash and maybe a way out of this dump. And, the best part is I get to pick my own team, and I’m guessing you already know my first pick, right?” Lydia paused, waiting for Kira to complete the thought.

Kira raised her questioning eyebrows at Lydia. “I don’t know, who is it?” she asked curiously.

“It’s you dumbass! I know you’re still a junior rat, but this could totally give you a boost, maybe even a promotion.” She winked slyly.

“Oh!” Kira breathed out and giggled awkwardly. “Gotcha. Well, you shouldn’t have to do that for me. You need to pick someone who’s actually qualified for the job. Besides, I’m ok with still being a junior rat. It’s better not having all that responsibility.”

Lydia sighed, clucking her tongue. “I’m not just picking you because you’re my friend, Kira; I’m picking you because you’re the best weapons and combat skilled rat in the pack. I need your expertise.”

“Oh, ok.” Kira shrugged sheepishly. “If you say so.”

“I do say so!” Lydia retorted. “I’m also going to pick Scott. He’s mad good with getting in and out of places, and knows his way around a lock. With your skills, Scott’s abilities, and my smarts, that house doesn’t stand a chance,” she finished with a triumphant grin. Kira smiled back at her with a small smile.

-

Scott was nervous from the moment Lydia told him the news. “I don’t know Lydia. They want us to go after Lord Stilinski? That’s a pretty high risk case, I can’t believe they’re giving it to you after you’ve just been promoted.”

“That’s why they gave it to me. They want me to show them what I got, and I fully intend too. I need you Scott,” she pleaded with him, “you’re my final piece to the puzzle. I’ve got to make this one a success. They won’t give me another chance after this. Besides, I’ve already accepted it, and you know they don’t do take backs. Pleeassee?” She implored him, batting her eyelashes. “For me?”

Sighing in defeat, he finally relented and nodded. “But this better be a clean job. I don’t want anyone to spot us.”

“Well duh. That’s the whole point Scotty," Lydia sarcastically replied. "Don't worry, it's all going to be fine." 

-

After reeling in Scott, memorizing the files and reporting back to Derek, the team began to conduct their own stakeout on the house. It was heavily fortified, with high walls and a patrolling security detail. Clearly Stilinski was leaving nothing up to chance. Lydia lowered the spyglass she had been peering through for the last hour with a small grimace. Derek better be right about the value of the prize. This was certainly going to be one tough nut to crack. Shaking her head briskly to dissuade any more negative thoughts, she brought the spyglass back up to her eye to resume surveillance.

Crouching next to her, Kira gave a small shiver. “Man, I hate doing stakeouts in the Fall. It’s always cold, and I feel like my fingers are going to fall off. I wish Scott were here.”

“Huh,” Lydia replied with a slight smile and a raised eyebrow, “Here I was thinking there was nothing there towards Scott. Yeah, he’d definitely be a nice heat source right about now.”

Kira glared at her. “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant it more along the lines of I wish Scott were here so I could go warm my solid ice cube of a body up inside next to a fire and have him sit in the cold for a while.”

Lydia let out a small giggle. “Well, regardless of your reasoning, you’re right. Scott should be here, but the boy’s got school. What can he do?" Lydia paused, and then whispered under her breath, "I sometimes wish I could go to school…” she trailed off with a small sigh. She loved books; the floor of their room was blanketed with them. Anything she could get hands on, she got. Everything from textbooks to dime store novels, she read it all. She sometimes wished she didn’t have this life, being a rat for the Overlord. Being a thief would be on the lowest part of the totem pole for her priorities. She would have gone to school, maybe even college… Lydia let out another sigh. But that was not her life, and could most likely never be. She was a rat through and through.

Pushing back at the self-deprecating thoughts, she gave herself a good shake and looked over at Kira. “Anyway, at least it’s not the middle of Winter yet. Then we’d really be cold,” she said with a slightly sarcastic tone. Kira smiled sadly at her slipup. She knew how badly Lydia wanted to go to school and get an education, but unfortunately for the both of them, that would never be an option. Not with the life they led. It was different for Scott, he still had someone to care for, a reason to still strive to be normal. Maybe that was why Kira had such a big crush on him. He embodied the normalcy she had always craved.

Kira let out a small shake of her own, and formed a reply to Lydia. “Well, I guess that’s true. Can’t complain too much,” she finished with a small smile. “Right,” Lydia firmly replied. “Now let’s get back down to business.” Kira nodded with only a knowing smile.


	4. The Build-Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter before the big job! I'm really excited about the upcoming chapters so stay tuned! Don't forget to leave kudos and subscribe! I hope ya'll like all the references ;)

Lydia woke up the morning of the job with butterflies doing the Charleston in her stomach. Grimacing, she rolled over and stumbled out of bed towards the one bathroom she and Kira shared, almost tripping on one of the many books littering the floor of the room. Reaching the bathroom without further incidence, she closed the door behind her. Stripping out her bedclothes, she quickly stepped into the shower and turned on the water as cold pinpricks were beginning to rise on her exposed skin. She let the hot water roll over her body, soothing every ache and worry away. After she was done, she wrapped an old towel around her chest and moved back into the bedroom to find her clothes for tonight. It was to be a blackout raid as per normal, and she knelt down on the floor to look under her bed trying to fish out the various articles of clothing she needed.

Hearing Kira turn over in her sleep, she started slightly at the noise and hit the underside of the bed. Breathing out a small _ow_ , she rubbed her head and then finished collecting the last bits of her outfit. After laying out the outfit on her bed, she strolled over to Kira and shook her awake.

“Come on. Get up and get dressed. We need to move out in an hour.” Groaning, Kira rolled over in her sleep and pulled the pillow over her head. Lydia sighed in frustration. Kira was an absolute _beast_ in the morning and almost impossible to get up. Deciding that extreme measures were in order, Lydia tucked the edges of the towel still wrapped around her chest securely and walked to the end of the Kira’s bed grabbing the blankets. With a strong whip, she yanked all the covers off of Kira in one fell swoop.

Kira curled up into a little ball, hugging her knees to her chest as the cold air hit her. “Get up,” Lydia enunciated once more. Kira lifted her head and opened one bleary eye to glare at Lydia. “Hey now,” Lydia pointed a finger at her, “don’t give me that look. You know you’re just going to regret it if you don’t get up right this instant. So get out of bed and go take a shower. Hopefully it’ll wake you up.” Kira let out another loud groan, but rolled off the bed and slowly made her way over to the bathroom. “Don’t you dare fall asleep in there!” Lydia yelled after her.

Kira waved a dismissive hand. “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” she mumbled back. Shutting the door behind her, Lydia waited a moment with crossed arms facing the door for the water to turn on. When the sound of water entered the bedroom, she uncrossed her arms and made her way back to the bed where her outfit still lay.

Untucking the edges of towel, she let it drop to the floor. Looking down, she observed the numerous little scars that littered her body from her years of working as a rat for the Overlord. Frowning, she shifted her attention from her body to the clothes in front of her. Feeling the cold air start to embrace her exposed flesh, she moved quickly. She first pulled on a pair of tight underclothes and laced up her camisole, flattening her chest. Pulling a tight black linen shirt over her head, she tucked it into a pair of black trousers that she wriggled up her lower body. Sitting down on the bed, she pulled on a pair of thick wool socks, and then put on a pair of black combat boots over them. After lacing up her boots, she stood up and threw on the tight black leather coat to complete her ensemble. Fitting her hands into her trademark leather gloves, she made her way over to the tall mirror in the corner of the room. As she observed herself, she had to make the admittance that she looked good. Finding a hair tie hanging off the mirror, she braided her long hair back away from her face and fitted her cap on her head.

Hearing the water shut off from the bathroom, she turned around and waited for Kira to emerge. When Kira finally opened the door to the bathroom, she looked a lot more awake and alert. Nodding once to Lydia, she made her way over to her bed to retrieve her outfit. It was similar to Lydia’s, except for she had a crucial addition of a belt that would form into a sword. Clipping it tight around her waist, she stood ready to go. Lydia smiled at her, and gestured towards the door. Kira went out first, making sure all her gear was in order, and grabbed a soft black wool cap off of the dresser next to the door. Lydia paused before following her, and grabbed her two daggers that she kept for protection and tucked them into the sides of her boots. Looking around the room one last time, she squared her shoulders and closed the door firmly behind her.

-

When they got to Hale Insurance, the phony front for the Overlord’s empire, they walked through the double doors and into the lobby. Seeing Erica, the receptionist, sitting behind the desk on duty, they made their way over to her.

“Got an appointment?” She said sweetly, smiling through her teeth at them.

“Only if you got the time,” Lydia replied, the code words easily coming to her mind. Erika nodded once and ruffled through the papers on her desk quickly.

“Looks like you’re good to go for 10:30 on floor 2, room 212. I hope everything goes well.” Lydia smiled at her and thanked her. Erica just waved her off towards the elevators. Rolling her eyes at Erica as she walked away with Kira, they made her way over to the staircase in the corner of the building. Instead of going up, they went around to the back end of the staircase, and Lydia unlocked a door underneath the stairs. They went through and found themselves at the top of a different staircase, this one leading down. They set off down the two flights of stairs to room 212, aka the Rat Foreman aka Derek’s room.

Reaching the correct room, Lydia knocked once on the door. “Come in,” a deep voice uttered from inside. Twisting the doorknob, Lydia opened the door and stepped through, holding it open for Kira behind her. Derek and Scott both looked up from the folder they were looking for. “Ah, Lydia, Kira, glad you could make it.” Lydia glared under her eyelashes at Kira, who had adopted a puppy dog face upon the appearance of Scott.

“We encountered a slight delay this morning, nothing of note though,” Lydia replied smoothly to Derek’s slightly accusatory tone. Scott looked up at them, first at Lydia, then shifting over to Kira and giving her a small smile.

“You okay Kira?” he asked her with concern in his voice. “You look a little sick.” Kira started, her lips gaping like a fish, unable to produce any noise. Lydia rolled her eyes heavenward and saved her friend from the embarrassment of trying to speak.

“She’s fine. She felt a little queasy this morning, which is why we’re a little behind, but she’s all good now.”

Derek looked up also at that statement and replied, “She’s going to be ok for the job tonight, correct?”

Finally finding her voice, Kira squeaked out, “Of course! Really, I’m fine Scott.” She blushed at the smile he gave her. Rolling her eyes again, Lydia thought that her eyes are going to get stuck in the back of her head if this keeps happening. An awkward silence fell over the group until Derek broke it with a clearing of his throat.

“Alright then,” he said gesturing to the other two chairs in the room. “As you know, your objective is the recently purchased priceless set of blue diamonds by Lord Stilinski. From your surveillance and intelligence gathered, we know that he keeps his most prized valuables in a safe in the office, which is where we are assuming the diamonds will be. Your mission is to retrieve the diamonds, and any other loot safely without getting detected. I assume you have your plan set in place?” He directed the question at Lydia.

“Of course. We will commence operations at 1:00 a.m. and infiltrate the building, retrieving the diamonds. We already have our route set up and we know the rotations of the guards.”

“Good. I will transmit your master plan to the Overlord. You are dismissed. Report back to the Overlord after the job is done.” All three team members nodded in affirmation. “Then there’s nothing else to say but good luck and don’t get caught.”

-

The day dragged on heavily for Lydia and the team. After the meeting with Derek, they headed back to their stakeout positions to wait for night to fall. Scott was decidedly nervous, more so than any other job that they had done.

“What is your problem?” Lydia finally asked him, annoyance coloring her voice. “You have been resistant and jittery ever since I told you about the job. You barely showed up for surveillance detail, and you’ve been acting like a nervous wreck! What is going on?” She ended with an exasperated tone.

Scott stared up at her wide-eyed. “N-nothing’s wrong,” he stuttered.

“Oh my god. Like seriously. Are you ok to do this job? You told me you were, and I cannot have you backing out now. Not with it going down tonight.”

Scott heaved a huge sigh. “It’s just…” he trailed off. “No. I can’t tell you. It will jeopardize the job.”

“Scott. I am the team leader; you literally have to tell whatever it is if it is going to jeopardize the job because if you hadn’t noticed, this thing is going down tonight, and we cannot afford any complications.”

Scott rocked back and forth, biting his nail. “Fine.” He finally answered. “IknowLordStilinski’ssonok?”

Lydia froze. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

Scott swallowed nervously, and then repeated, “I know Lord Stilinski’s son ok? He goes by the name of Stiles, and he helped me out in a big way a couple months ago, and we kinda became friends.”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS!?” Lydia admonished in a loud voice, instantly being hushed by Kira. In a quieter voice, she continued, “You cannot drop a bomb on me like that Scott the DAY OF the biggest job of my career. You know his SON? His son? And what kind of name is Stiles Stilinski? There wasn’t anything about him having a son in the intelligence reports.”

Scott twirled his thumbs, “Well, first of all, that’s not his real name, it’s just what he likes to be called. His real name is apparently really long and hard to pronounce. His dad tries to really keep him under the radar. He’s been at a boarding school in France for the majority of the year, but he’s recently returned. That’s when I met him.”

Lydia rubbed her eyes, frowning. “So, first of all, you’re telling me that Lord Stilinski has a son, and second, you just now decided to tell me?”

“I told you I didn’t want to do the job! Now you know why,” Scott weakly replied.

Rubbing her eyes again, Lydia tried to bring some positivity to the revelation. “Ok, ok. Does he know about you? About what you do?”

“No! Not at all. I never told him any of that.”

“Good. Now here’s what we are going to do. We are going to continue with the job, and we are just going to have to be especially careful not to get caught. Especially you,” she pointed at Scott. Scott nodded vigorously.

“What do we do if we do get caught?”

“We’ll have to cross that bridge when we get to it.” Lydia stated firmly. “For now, we focus on the task at hand, and the job to come.”

 _I can’t afford a slipup._ Lydia thought to herself. _This better go well or I’m screwed_.


	5. The Job Commences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I had a lot of crazy stuff happen this past weekend, and I didn't have time before now to upload. So, here is the long awaited job with a minor complication thrown in :) This chapter is a little short, but I'll make up for it with a quicker update for the next chapter.

It was exactly as the clock was striking one o’clock am that Lydia’s team stole from their hiding spot. They had timed this to a tee. From 1 to 1:05, there was a 5 minute gap in the guard shift that they used to sneak over the wall and into the garden residing behind it.

Moving quickly and silently, they made their way through the extravagant gardens to the service entrance on the side of the building. Lydia and Kira kept watch as Scott picked the lock. 10 seconds later, there was a small click and they were through the door and into the small entryway beyond. Heading up the stairs immediately in front of them, keeping to the edges to avoid creaks, they reached the top of the staircase and stood at the end of a long servant’s hallway.

With no one in sight, and 2 minutes left to go before their window closed, they ran down the hallway. Reaching the door at the end, they tested to see if it was locked, and found it to be open. After entering in through the doorway, and into the main foyer of the mansion, they made their way over to the large staircase in the middle of the room. Quickly scaling it, they made it to the top just as another door across the foyer opened and a guard walked through. Ducking below the banister, they observed the guard as he made his way across the floor to the door they had just vacated.

After the guard disappeared, and they made sure he wasn’t coming back, they continued making their way to Stilinski’s office. They made their way through several large rooms, before reaching the room where they recognized the door that led to the private quarters of the mansion’s occupants. This was where they were going to have to be extremely careful, especially with the unknown factor of Stiles running around. Scott instantly went to work, and was rewarded shortly. Hearing the lock click, Lydia motioned them both forward. Slowly, she twisted the knob, praying that the oiled hinges would hold. Holding her breath, she pulled the door open a crack, and kneeling down, she peered through it.

The dark corridor stretched beyond the door without a soul in sight. Waiting another moment, Lydia eased the door half-open, and slithered through. Crouching low, she waved Scott and Kira through and cracked the door behind them, giving the illusion of it being shut. They raced down the hallway, and upon reaching a junction; they placed their backs up against the left wall. Lydia peered around the corner.

There was nothing in sight.

Motioning Scott and Kira forward, they stole down the second hallway to the large ornate doors residing at the end. Indicating to Kira to stand guard, Lydia and Scott stole forward to the lock. Scott managed to pick this one as well, although it took him longer than the previous two, as this lock was more intricate. Regardless of the intricacy of the lock, he was able to pick it was relative ease.

Grasping the handle in her slender hand, Lydia slowly pulled it down and out, opening the door with the motion. A grand office met her eyes, very different from the Spartan furnishing of the Overlord’s office. Here there were elaborate and detailed tapestries hanging about, with a grand oak desk in the middle, and pictures hung at intervals throughout the room. Wandering through it, her hands brushing along the spines of the books filling the large bookcases on one side of the room, Lydia was amazed at the sheer opulence in the room.

Scott let out a quiet humph behind her, bringing her meandering attention back into laser focus. Making her way over the large painting adorning the wall behind the desk, she quietly pulled it off its hook, and set it gently on the floor. Kira stood at the entrance of the room, scanning the hallway for any incoming threats. Lydia directed Scott to his task of breaking into the safe that lay behind the painting.

As he got to work, Lydia wandered back over to the bookcase. Picking one at random, she opened it to the first page and began to read. The title of the book was _Defeat of the Dragons_. She was instantly drawn into the book as she was with all written material, and became absorbed in the story.

Hearing a loud click behind her startled her out of her trancelike state, causing her to drop the book. There was a muffled thud; the book had been rather heavy.

Everyone froze, listening for a response. When there was nothing after a solid five minutes, Lydia quickly snatched up the book and shoved it into the bag she had slung across her chest. Made her way over to Scott, she reached inside the safe and grabbed the set of priceless blue diamonds resting inside. Opening the box they lay in to check the contents, she whistled under her breath at their beauty. After observing their beauty for another second, she snapped the case shut and shoved them into her bag next to the book. After the diamonds were secure in her bag, Scott closed the safe door, and twirled the lock shut.

They then made their way to where Kira still stood guard, and began to retrace their steps back to the main foyer. As they reached the top of the staircase, Lydia paused briefly, letting Scott and Kira go down the steps before her. She looked around at the mansion, taking in its beauty as she had not been able to before, and sucked in a breath _at what could be_.

Just as she was about to start her descent down the stairs, she heard an accusing young male voice behind her, “Who the hell are you?”

Lydia froze, and turned around slowly to bring the owner of the voice into view. _Shit_ , she thought to herself, _it’s that damn kid Stiles!_

The boy standing before her looked nothing like she pictured the son of a rich lord to be. He was tall and lanky with mussed brown hair, and moles peppering his pale skin. His whiskey-colored eyes stared out at her under raised eyebrows. Her breath caught in her throat.  _Holy crap! He was hot!_

That was her last thought before all hell broke loose.


	6. The Other Team Tries to Play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little quicker update as I said before :) Please leave comments or kudos if you like it!

Lydia was thrown forward into the boy as a huge explosion rocked through the main foyer below them. Landing in a tangle of arms and legs, they fell over backwards on the landing. Stunned by the blast, Lydia lay there on top of him for several seconds, her head spinning and her ears ringing. Slowly sound trickled through, the sounds of someone shouting something.

Rising up slightly, she shook her head trying to displace the ringing in her ears. She felt the boy shift beneath her, and she looked down, her face inches from his own. His startled gaze burned into her, and his lips were forming something, but it was still muffled. Pushing herself up off him, she started to stand up, but her legs buckled underneath her, causing her to crash back into him.

She heard a muffled grunt coming him, but couldn’t find the strength to care. Resting there another moment, she let the dizziness clear from her head. She felt him shift under her again, trying to push her off. Obliging him, she rolled off and onto her back next to him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him sit up holding the back of his head. He must have hit it pretty hard against the ground when they fell.

Looking over at her, he leaned over and shook her shoulder, the muffled voice finally coming through, “Hey, are you ok? Can you hear me?”

Lydia nodded slightly, her neck twinging as she did so, and she winced. He looked at her with concern in his eyes. “Are you hurt?” he asked.

She shook her head, and slowly started to sit up. Grabbing her arm, he helped to lift her into a sitting position. As soon as he touched her arm, fire burned through her from his touch. Yanking her arm away from him, she looked at him with suspicion in her gaze. Holding up his hands in the universal sign of I’m not going to hurt you, he continued to gaze at her with his smoldering eyes. Feeling the heat of his eyes resting on hers, she looked away and leveraged herself up, swaying slightly, and stumbled over to the remaining bit of the banister to look over into the foyer.

Below her, the stairs were crumbled to the ground, and she spotted Kira and Scott tangled up in the rubble. As she was looking at them, about to call their names, a group of men came bursting into the room, all dressed in black.

Lydia froze.

Recognizing the one in front, she felt her stomach drop. _Not him_ , she thought despairingly, _not now_. Of course it had to be him.

Standing there indecisively for another precious moment, she watched as they began moving into the lower parts of the house. They fortunately, still hadn’t noticed Scott and Kira. Moving her body into action, she whipped around to face Stiles getting up behind her.

“Do you have any rope or another fast way to the foyer?” she asked him desperately.

He stared at her for several seconds in consideration before replying. “There’s some tapestries and curtains in the room behind us, but the other staircase is on the other side of the house. It would take a while to go around.” He came up to stand next to her looking out over into the foyer. “Holy Shit!” He exclaimed in a low voice, “what happened? Who are those people?”

“No one you want to meet,” Lydia replied with a dark tone. “Help me, I have to get to my friends before those men find them.”

He ran alongside her into the room as she started to grab curtains off the wall and tie them together. “You know those guys? Who are they? What are they doing here? And for the record, what are you doing here?” Eyeing the bag still strapped across her chest. “Are you stealing from us?” he asked in a shocked voice. “Give that back!” He reached for the bag.

Lydia stepped backwards. “No way! And besides, I’m the least of your problems right now. Trust me, you don’t want to meet those other guys. You better just get out of the way before you get hurt.”

He stared at her, eyebrow raised with his arm still outstretched. Lydia decided to make the choice for him. “Sorry about this, but I need to get the hell out of here,” and with those words she swung the bag and hit him in the head, the heavy book inside the bag effectively knocking him out for the count.

Hurrying, she tied the rest of the curtains together and with it all bundled in her arms, she ran from the room leaving his comatose body behind. Feeling a slight twinge of guilt, she pushed it down. What did it matter if she knocked him out? He was probably safer anyway, especially with _him_ somewhere down there.

Racing back to the remaining part of the banister, she tied one end of the curtains to it. Checking to make sure there were no more of the men left in the foyer, she let it fall down to the ground floor.

Quickly shimming down the makeshift rope, she landed on the ground in a crouch, and ran over to Scott and Kira.

Kira had landed on top of Scott, with his arms wrapped around her. In another part of her adrenaline-fused mind, she quietly laughed at the fact that it was only when they were unconscious and unaware that Kira got to be in Scott’s arms.

Grabbing Kira’s shoulder, she roughly shook her. “Wake up,” she hissed. “We got to go, _Jackson_ is here.” Kira let out a moan, and Lydia looked around nervously to see if any of the men were close by and heard it. Shaking Kira once more, she resorted to desperate measures as Kira’s eyes still refused to open. Rolling her off Scott, she slapped her hard across the face.

Kira’s eyes shot open and she bolted upright. “What’s g-going on?” She stammered out.

“There was an explosion, and the stairway collapsed. You and Scott fell. And that’s not the worst part. Jackson is here with a team, and we have _got to go,_ ” she spoke quickly under her breath.

Instantly understanding the situation, Kira pushed herself to a standing position, blood trickling down her face from a head wound. She snapped out her belt into sword form, taking up a defensive stance.

Lydia quickly slapped Scott, and he burst awake. Putting a finger up to her lips, she signed the need to be quiet. Nodding that he understood, he hoisted himself to his feet.

Yelling sounded from deeper in the mansion, and they ran over to the door they had entered through. Hearing noise on the other side, they flattened themselves against the wall as the door shot open, several guards pouring through. They entered into the room, scanning the situation, guns in hand. Lydia’s eyes opened in horror as one of the men in black from before stepped through an entryway behind the stairs.

It was _him_. It was Jackson.

Snapping their guns up to face the intruder, the guards opened fire. Jackson merely ducked to the side, and Lydia ducked down to the floor to escape wayward bullets. Within minutes, the guards were dead, and Jackson looked up right at her, his own gun still smoking. He held her gaze for several seconds, the silence stretching between them.

With determination in his eyes, he started to quickly stride over to them. But Lydia wasn’t going to wait around for a reunion.

Grabbing Kira and Scott, she quickly hustled them through the doorway, leaving the scene of carnage behind them.

“Lydia, wait!” A loud voice called out behind them.

“Like hell I will,” she muttered under her breath, and slammed the door shut in his face. Tearing down the hallway, the team flew back down the stairs and burst out into the gardens. Seeing bodies scattered here and there, Lydia tried to keep the bile down. Even though she was used to a rough life, she always tried to stay away from murder. They made it to the garden wall just as Jackson burst out the door behind them.

“LYDIA!” He shouted her name.

Refusing to look back, Lydia hoisted herself onto the wall, and helped Scott and Kira up. They dropped down first over the wall, and she paused briefly before following them, glancing back at Jackson who stood in the middle of the gardens staring at her. Shrugging at him, she dropped down over the wall to join Scott and Kira and they ran into the night with smoke rising behind them and sirens sounding their alarm.


	7. The Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might not be able to update for a couple weeks due to craziness of finals so hopefully this chapter will tide you over till then! (No Lydia though, just Stiles)

Sergeant Chris Argent of the Police Department of Beacon Hills, walked through the rubble of the main foyer of Lord Stilinski’s mansion. Shaking his head at the scene, he made his way over to where the Lord himself sat holding an bag of ice to the back of his son’s head. Said son was slumped in a chair, not looking at anyone.

When he reached them, he looked down at Stiles and asked, “Hey son, how’s your head? Ready to answer some questions?”

Stiles sat up, his father adjusting with him. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“Stiles,” his father murmured behind him, “Are you sure? We can wait.”

“Dad. I’m fine. Stop treating me like a freaking five year old. It’s just a bump on my head. I’m alright, really.”

Lord Stilinski merely tightened his lips in response and slightly shook his head. Looking up at Chris, he asked, “Any leads on who did this? My son was almost killed, and those diamonds were very precious.”

“We’re working on a few leads, but nothing concrete. I’m hoping your son here can shed some light on the matter.”

Stiles shrugged in response. “I’m not sure what I can tell you. Basically, I heard a noise coming from my father’s office, and it woke me up. I decided to get up and check it out, but there was no one in the office. But I did notice that one of his books was missing, and the painting behind the desk was slightly askew. I figured at that point that someone had just been in there stealing from the safe. So, I tried to see if they were still in the house, and when I got to the landing of the main stairs, there was this girl dressed all in black standing there. But before I could confront her there was this huge explosion, and we got thrown back from the landing. There were some other men running around on the ground floor, but the girl didn’t act like she was with them. In fact, she seemed pretty damn afraid of them. The stairs had collapsed as you can clearly see, and she ran back into the room above the stairs to tie some curtains together to get to her two friends who had fallen when the stairs collapsed. It was definitely a boy and a girl, but I didn’t get a good look at their features. So I ran back with the girl, and when I tried to take the bag she had (which I was pretty sure held the diamonds), she knocked me out. I woke up later and she was gone and so was the other group.”

“So, what about this girl you ran into? Did you catch her name? What did she look like?”

“Oh right, because my first thought running through my head was hi, what’s your name? Do you live around here?” Stiles rolled his eyes. “No, I didn’t catch her name. As for what she looked like, well, she was short, only about 5’’3’, and had brown eyes and strawberry blonde hair. That’s about all I got.”

Chris smiled thinly, “Thanks son. If I think of anymore questions, I’ll contact you.” Addressing Lord Stilinski, “Sir, if I may have a few words with you? Excuse us Stiles.”

-

Stiles sighed in annoyance as the two men walked away. He watched them for several moments as they conversed, unable to make anything that they were saying out. Scanning the destroyed room, he spotted a dark-haired girl kneeling down to investigate the rubble. His eyebrows raised a fraction. _Well look who it is_ , he thought to himself.

Pushing himself out of the chair, he made his way over to the girl. “Well, well. Look who it is. Tag-teaming with daddy today?”

The girl looked up at him in annoyance. “Yeah, actually I am. He’s trying to give me inside looks on cases, and it turns out you’re the newest one. What are the chances?” She ended with a slightly sarcastic smile.

Stiles rolled his eyes. “So, have your parents discovered your little secret yet? About one certain dark-haired, brown-eyed puppy dog by the name of –"

She stood up and shushed him before he could finish. “Would you shut up? I know you saved my ass that one time, but that doesn’t mean you get to harass me.” She glanced side-to-side, making sure no one was nearby to overhear. “Besides, I haven’t seen him in a couple weeks, he’s been really busy with something, but he won’t tell me what,” she finished with a frustrated air.

“I hope it’s nothing too serious,” Stiles said with a quirked eyebrow. “Especially with this shit-storm hitting the fan.”

She rolled her eyes, “Shut up Stilinski. Just because you know about us doesn’t mean you get to be snarky with me. I’m actually starting to get really worried about him. Have you seen him recently? Is he ok?”

Stiles’ mood dropped to serious and he shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen in a few weeks either. I’m not sure what he is up too,” he ended with a dark undertone.

“I just miss him,” she sighed under her breath. “I wish we didn’t have to sneak around –“

“Allison!” Argent called from across the room where he was still in conversation with Lord Stilinski, “Come here.”

“Coming father,” Allison intoned, and she gave a little half-wave to Stiles. “See you around. And if you do hear from him, get in touch with me ok?”

Stiles looked into her pleading eyes, “Alright, alright, I’ll let you know.” He glanced over at the two older men, “You better get over there, your father doesn’t look all that happy.”

Allison briefly touched him on the arm in gratitude, and then made her way over to the two older men. Stiles stood staring after her for a moment in consideration, then followed her over to where the discussion was taking place.

“We think it might have something to do with the new gang rising up in the Underworld,” Argent was saying as Stiles reached him. “This new group, the Nemeton, led by some guy everyone calls the Demon Wolf, appears to like big explosions and robberies.”

“You don’t say?” Stiles drawled.

Argent and his father glared at him for several moments before his father sighed and said “Stiles, this doesn’t concern you.”

“Like hell it doesn’t!” Stiles exclaimed. ‘They almost blew me up and you think it doesn’t concern me?”

“Calm down son. Your father just doesn’t want you to get more involved than you already are,” Argent said trying to placate him.

“That’s bull,” Stiles stated with finality. “Now continue with what you were saying Sergeant.”

Argent exchanged a look with his father before he shrugged and continued, “Well, as I was saying, we have strong suspicion that this new group, the Nemeton, as you know, blew up the foyer and stole a lot of the valuables. They were most likely gunning for the diamonds, but your little redhead and her friends got to them first.”

“It’s strawberry blonde,” Stiles muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” Argent asked with an annoyed air.

“Nothing! Nothing.” Stiles replied smoothly, getting a raised eyebrow from Allison.

Argent glared at him for another moment before continuing, “Anyway, we can most likely deduce that the _strawberry blonde_ and her friends retrieved the diamonds first, and then the Nemeton blew up the foyer as her team was leaving, and they subsequently used the explosion and chaos as a cover for their escape.”

“Do you think this new group, the Nemeton, knows who the girl is and who she is working for?” Lord Stilinski asked.

“Most likely.” Stiles chimed in. “She kept talking about one of the guys and how she couldn’t believe it was him, so she obviously knew him. They probably spotted her on the way out, or if they didn’t, there’s only so many big gangs in the Underworld, it wouldn’t take much to figure out which group they were working for.”

“You’re right Stiles,” Argent bequeathed grudgingly. “The only other big wig in the Underworld who could have pulled this off is the Overlord. The girl and her friends were most likely working for him, which means that we could have the start of a gang war on our hands if the Demon Wolf really wants to get his claws on those diamonds.”

The group all stared in apprehension at each other. “But that’s worst case scenario,” Argent was quick to reassure.

“Well let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Stiles said dryly.


	8. The Report

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry there was such a long break between updates! Finals were crazy, and my winter break has also been rather eventful. So without further ado, here is the next chapter! It is shorter, but only because my next chapter is so freaking long. This is more of a prelude. Thanks for your patience! 
> 
> As always, please leave kudos or comments to let me know if you like it!

Lydia’s chest was heaving by the time they reached Hale Insurance. Leaning over, she placed her hands on her knees and let her breath catch up with her constricting lungs. Scott and Kira stopped next to her, also trying to catch their breath.

“Well that went completely to hell,” Lydia intoned as soon as she got some of her breath back. “I mean,” she pulled off her cap and twisted it in her hands, “what are the chances that _Jackson_ and his team would be robbing the place the same time we were? And that Stiles, the one factor we were trying to avoid, just happened to insert himself right in.” Lydia rubbed her eyes. “He’s going to kill me. I’m literally going to die. There’s no way this is salvageable! Jackson freaking saw me! He knows that we have the diamonds, and he’s going to run straight to the Demon Wolf and tell him everything. We actually might have just struck the spark that sets off the whole Underworld!” Lydia’s chest heaved.

Scott grabbed both her shoulders and shook her. “Whoa! Whoa, calm down Lydia. That’s all just speculation. You’re not going to die. How could you have possibly known that the Nemeton would strike the same night as us? What’s important is that we got the diamonds, isn’t it? Everything else is just background noise.” Scott said in a calming voice. “It’s all going to be ok. We’re going to report to the Overlord, and we are going to tell him the truth about Jackson, and that’s it.”

“What about Stiles?” Kira asked in a small worried voice.

Lydia straightened, and patted Scott’s arm as he released her, “We’re not going to mention anything about Stiles. He was never there as far as we were concerned. We never saw him.”

Kira gasped and asked in a quiet shocked voice, “You want to lie to the Overlord?”

“It’s not lying, it’s just omitting part of the truth. No reason to get us in anymore trouble than we already are. Besides, if we tell him about Stiles, we effectively turn in Scott’s involvement as well, and we certainly don’t want that. The Overlord might actually kill him for that.”

Kira nodded slowly, “Alright. That makes sense. I just hope this doesn’t all blow up in our faces.”

“Me too,” Scott and Lydia replied at the same time with worried frowns.

-

“So sir, as you can see, although there were a few hiccups, we managed to retrieve the diamonds and accomplish the job,” Lydia finished nervously, hunching slightly in the rigid wooden chair.

“A few hiccups?” The Overlord asked with a dangerously low voice.

“Yes sir. We had no prior knowledge that they would be there, and even though Jackson saw us, we still managed to get away and retrieve the merchandise,” Lydia replied with a slightly stronger voice.

The Overlord searched her eyes for a few moments. “You’re right, rat. You had no way of knowing they would be there, and with the circumstances presented; you managed to do your best. Concerning you and Jackson however…” he trailed off.

“There is nothing left between Jackson and me sir.” Lydia replied with a decided air. “He essentially died to me the day he left us,” she said with a steely voice and gaze.

“Good, good. Make sure he stays that way. You are dismissed. Leave the diamonds here and go report to Rat Foreman.”

Lydia stood up quickly and nodded. “Thank you sir,” she said with a little bow and quickly exited the oppressing room, so different from the stately office of Lord Stilinski.

-

A light female voice spoke from the shadows of the Overlord’s office, “So, what do you want to do about all this?”

The Overlord turned in his chair to face the corner where his Second-in-Command, a pretty African American woman by the name of Morrell, stood leaning nonchalantly against the wall. “Nothing as of yet. We’ll wait to see if the Demon Wolf wants to bite, and take it from there.”

“You think he will bite? He’s still not yet as powerful as you contrary to what he likes his followers to think.”

The Overlord stood up from his chair and walked over to her, his hands clasped behind his back. “He will most undoubtedly have to nip at something, or he will lose face with his men. It’s just the question of when and where.”

Morrell appraised him with her cold eyes, and asked “what about the rat and her team? Do you want to punish them or have them removed?”

“No, no. Nothing so drastic. They were simply there at the wrong time, and they did manage to retrieve what I wanted. There will be no repercussions for them yet.”

“Yet?” Morrell questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, my senior rat is going to have to deal with the fact that that snake, Jackson, saw her. That will most likely have some rather unfortunate fallout for her, considering their past. So, no, I won’t punish her, Jackson will be the one to deal the punishing blow. As for the rest of the team, I wouldn’t put much stock in them. They weren’t the ones in charge, and are not important.”

Morrell nodded in assent and switched subjects, “Why do you think he blew up the foyer if he was just after the diamonds?”

The Overlord raised his eyebrows in amusement, and said with slight humor coloring his tone, he said, “Well, the Demon Wolf never really goes for subtlety. The bigger the bang, the bigger his ego grows. He was most likely trying to make some sort of grandiose gesture.”

Morrell nodded once more. “Well, whatever his reasoning, he didn’t achieve a whole lot from it.”

“On the contrary, he might have just achieved everything. If he decides to go after the diamonds, then we might have a civil war on our hands. It gives him the incentive and the reasoning, however slight. Although, I doubt he will gather much support from the rest of the Underworld due to the old rule of finders keepers, but I will not make the mistake of being unprepared. He has some sort of plan laid in place, and this is just the beginning. Even if it does come to war, this is one fight I am not willing to lose,” He finished with a murderous intent. “Besides, he has gone on too long unchecked and unchallenged, and I intent to put the rabid dog down for good one way or another.”


	9. Little Sparrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super long wait between updates! I have a couple more chapters of this fic written, but I just haven't found the time to post them yet. So the next updates will probably be pretty sporadic and weirdly spaced out. 
> 
> *WARNING!*
> 
> I wanted to let ya'll know that this chapter can be pretty triggering for some people. I added stuff in the tags, so please read with caution if you have any trigger warnings.

Lydia spent the next few days in turmoil, locked in her apartment. Kira and Scott both trickled in and out trying to console her, but she was unreceptive. Why did it all have to happen to her? She did everything right, followed the book to a tee. Even though the Overlord hadn’t punished her (or killed her), she still couldn’t shake her fear and unease.

Derek hadn’t helped either, when she had reported to him; he had simply given her a leave of absence to “recover”. Recover from what? It wasn’t her fault, she thought vindictively. On the other hand, she was the one in charge of a mission that went wrong.

Ugh. She was so frustrated and confused. And why did that boy, Stiles, still linger in her thoughts? She shook her head angrily. He had been running through her thoughts since the mission, his whiskey-colored eyes had burned a hole straight through her heart, and she couldn’t figure out how to close it. She hadn’t felt this way about a boy since…

No, she wouldn’t go down that road. She had promised herself long ago after Jackson left that she would never let another person that close again. He had conducted the ultimate betrayal against her when he left for the Nemeton, the enemy, and there was nothing that could ever fix it.

Lydia rolled over on her stomach, and let her arm hang off the side of bed. Her fingers brushed a large large leather-bound novel, and she grasped it by the spine, pulling it up on the bed with her. If she couldn’t work, then she could at least do something productive like read. Glancing at the book, she realized it was  _Defeat of the Dragons,_  the book she had swiped from the Stilinski Mansion. Groaning, she thumped her head down on it. She, just couldn’t get a break, could she? Feeling a sudden rush of anger, she picked up the book and threw it against the wall.

Kira opened the door just as the book went flying past her and slammed into the wall next to the door. Raising an eyebrow at Lydia, who was still drooped in bed, she bent down and picked up the book from where it had landed. She walked over to Lydia and put the book on top a stack of books at the foot of the bed.

Sitting down next to Lydia, she patted Lydia’s arm. “So, I know you’re still moping, but there’s a huge market sale going on in the square, and I can’t carry all the bags by myself. So why don’t you get up and get dressed and go with me? Besides, you need to get out of this room; it’s depressing in here. Some fresh air will do you good.”

“What if the Overlord tries to send one of his wolves after me? I can’t go out in the open,” Lydia shied evasively.

“That’s utter bullcrap and you know it. If he wanted to kill you, he would have already done it. He knows where we live remember? Besides, I think you need to get out. You clearly haven’t looked in a mirror in a while.”

Lydia glared up at her. “I look perfectly fine, thank you very much.”

“Sure you do,” Kira answered in a singsong voice. “But a shower and brisk walk couldn’t hurt.” Lydia glared at her again, but soon sighed in defeat. She knew Kira wasn’t going to give this up, and besides what’s the worst that could happen?

-

Lydia hated Kira in that moment glaring at the man in front of her. Clearly everything bad that could happen definitely happened. The walk to the market had started out fine, and shopping had gone smooth. It wasn’t until Kira wanted to look at some jewelry and Lydia was ready to go home that everything went to hell.

They had agreed to part, Kira to stay and look around, Lydia to go home and begin unpacking. It wasn’t until she was halfway home passing a dark alleyway when she was brusquely grabbed and hustled down the alleyway, dirty hands covering her mouth and nose.

Reaching the end, she was slammed against the wall, her bags long discarded at the entrance. Coming back to the present moment with her chest heaving, she glared at her kidnappers. There were three of them, two of them twins, and the third man was tall, bald, and muscular. The twins kept her pinned to the wall as the third man leered over her.

“Well, well. Look what we caught. A nice little sparrow all ready to be plucked.” Lydia viciously kicked her leg out, catching him in the groin.

“Take that, asshole,” she said venomously. The twins holding her instantly caught her legs and trapped them. The main goon had doubled over when she kicked him, letting out a half growl. After composing himself, he turned to her and slapped her hard across the face.

“You’re going to regret that bitch,” he hissed at her. Her head reeling, she barely registered him nodding at the twins holding her. The one on the left took one arm and hit in her the stomach. Unable to double over from the pain, Lydia let out a gasp, and stars flew before her eyes. He let go of her completely, and threw her into the other one’s grasp. Her arms were wrenched behind her, and the first twin continued to rain down blows.

She didn’t know how long it went on, but she soon found herself sagged in the second twin’s arms, and the third man was saying something to her. She tried focusing through her pain, but she could barely hear him through the buzzing in her ears.

“Hey, bitch, can you hear me? Have you had enough?” The last part got through to Lydia, and she nodded slowly, her vision swimming. “Good. Now that we have your attention, the Demon Wolf sends his regards, and wants some information.” Lydia grew cold at the mention of the Demon Wolf. She knew what was coming next and tensed as she heard the question, “Where are the diamonds?”

She shook her head, and wetted her lips. “I don’t know,” she whispered.

“That’s a lie. Try again.” The man stated bluntly, and nodded at the first twin, who hit her in the stomach again. She grunted, but stood her ground.

“I don’t know,” she panted. “I gave them to my boss and that’s the last I saw of them. I don’t know anything beyond that.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate. Jackson had made it pretty clear that you knew what we wanted.” Lydia’s head snapped up at Jackson’s name, and letting out a feral growl, her pain forgotten in that moment, she tried to launch herself at the man. The second twin merely rearranged his grip and effectively kept her in place. Frustrated, she let out a loud cry and tried to wrestle from his grip to no avail. Finally seeing that she couldn’t twist free, she lay limp in the man’s arms, glaring daggers at the third man. He merely smiled, a predatory gleam in his eyes.

“Oh yes, Jackson talks a lot about you. About how amazing you were, how you knew how to press all the right buttons. He said you were good, real good. Makes me wonder…” His gaze raked her body from top to bottom. “I guess it’s time this sparrow got plucked.”

Lydia gazed at him in horror as she realized what he was saying through the fog in her mind. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She felt removed from it all, like it was just a dream. But the feel of her coat being dragged from her shoulders jolted her back to reality.

Struggling even more so, she heard the first twin say, “Ennis, come on man. The boss said to rough her up and get any information we can from her. He didn’t say anything about this.”

The man, who she know knew was named Ennis, glared at the first twin and said in a low dangerous voice, “Aiden, I don’t care what you think. She’s pretty and I want to fuck her, isn’t that a good enough reason?”

The twin, Aiden, shook his head. “Whatever man, but don’t come crying to me when Jackson finds out. He’s gonna be pissed.” Turning to his brother, he said, “Ethan, you gonna sit here and watch?”

The other twin still holding her shook his head, and threw her into Ennis’s arms. “Nah, I can get my kicks elsewhere.” Throwing his arm around his brother, Aiden steered Ethan back down the alleyway. Lydia watched them go with desperation in her eyes.

“Please!” she cried out, her voice breaking, “don’t let him do this to me! Don’t you have any sort of conscious?”

Aiden paused and looked back at her. “Sure I do sweetheart, but it’s not enough of a motivator to get in between Ennis and whatever he wants. Sorry.” With those words, the twins walked away, leaving Lydia in the hands of her captor.

“I’m going to enjoy this, little sparrow,” Ennis said grinning maliciously at her. He threw her on the ground, her back slamming into the hard pavement. Her breath driven from her lungs, she could only lay there gasping for air as he straddled her, his meaty hands roving over her body.

Tears were streaming down her face, and she was pretty sure some god-awful noises were coming her throat, but she didn’t care. Not in this moment.

He managed to wriggle her coat off, working around her flailing arms. He thumbed down both of her suspenders, and began to unbutton her shirt. She felt goose bumps rise on her skin as the cool air hit her partially exposed flesh. She let out a loud scream, hoping someone would hear her before he slapped a heavy hand over her mouth.

Leaning over her, he whispered in her ear, “Now, now, little sparrow, none of that, we can’t have someone interrupting us, now can we.”

Lydia’s eyes narrowed at that. No way in hell was she going to just sit and let this son of a bitch do this to her. As he started to unbutton her trousers, she inched her hand down her side, and felt her fingers brush the top of her boots.

There! Grasping the hilt of the dagger hidden in her boot, she pulled it from its sheath. Ennis stopped unbuttoning her trousers as he heard the snick of the dagger sliding from the boot.

“What was that?” he managed to get out before Lydia used one of her free hands to punch him hard in the face, momentarily blinding him. Letting out a half yell, he reared back as blood began to flow from his nose over his fingers. Not wasting any time, Lydia drew the dagger back and buried it deep into his shoulder. As he clutched the dagger embedded in his flesh, she used the distraction to heave his bulk off of her, and staggered upright, her clothes dangling from her body.

She stumbled down the alleyway towards freedom. Hearing him roar behind her, she ran faster. The sound of a gunshot reverberated behind her and a sudden pain in her right side almost caused her to fall. Glancing down, she saw a thick line of blood appearing across her abdomen. He had shot her! She glanced back fearfully. He was just now getting up, and making his way after her, the gun still smoking in his hand.

He brought it up to fire again, but she had reached the entrance of the alleyway and threw herself to the side: straight into the arms of one Stiles Stilinski.


	10. So We Meet Again

Lydia crashed into Stiles, causing them to fall to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. She let out a loud gasp as the landing jarred the wound in her side, blacking out for half a second. When she came to, Stiles still underneath her, and was shaking her. “Hey! Are you ok?” She lay on top of him for another half second, trying to collect her thoughts when she heard a noise from the alleyway, bringing her memory of the recent events into forefront. Lurching upright, she staggered, almost crashing back into Stiles again.

Stiles stood up quickly with her, and grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her. “My, we have to stop meeting like this,” he said teasingly, a slight trickle of humor in his eyes. “I actually might start getting used to you being in my arms.”

Lydia couldn’t even form a sarcastic reply she was so out of sorts; she could only glare at him. She finally managed to gather her thoughts together to throw a reply back at him, “Thanks for the help, but if you don’t mind, I got some crazy guy chasing me who just shot me, and would like to do more, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to run away now.”

“What crazy guy?” He asked, his confused eyes searching hers, then down and took in her appearance. “What did he do?”

A loud roar sounded behind her jarring him from his observation, and Ennis came stumbling out of the alleyway. “That crazy guy.” Lydia whispered, her throat suddenly bone dry.

“Oh,” was the only reply that Stiles could muster as he stared up at the imposing figure of Ennis stalking towards them. Stiles pushed Lydia behind him, and started backing up as Ennis came closer. Lydia was forced to make an abrupt stop as she felt her back hit a lamppost, causing Stiles to crush her against the pole, jarring her wound once more. Lydia saw stars and would have slid to the ground if Stile’s heavy weight weren’t keeping her upright. She sagged against his back, and he reached around to steady her.

Trapped, Lydia could only stare in horror as Ennis caught up with them, and put his gun to Stiles’ forehead. “All right now kid. I’m sure you don’t want to die today, so why don’t you get out of my way and let me have back what belongs to me.”

“She is not property.” Stiles hissed through his teeth.

“She is to me. Now I’m going to count to three, and then I’m going to kill you if you don’t leave.”

“You think you can scare me?”

“No, I think I can kill you. I just thought the countdown would make it more exciting. So, 1… 2…” BANG!

A loud gunshot sounded, and Lydia felt warm sticky blood spew over Stiles and herself. She let out a half scream. Feeling Stiles fall into her, she clutched him to her chest as they slid to the ground. A sob escaped her. “Stiles?” She whispered to him.

He suddenly coughed, and tried to wipe the sticky blood off his face. “I’m fine, I’m fine. He didn’t shoot me.”

Lydia looked up through tear-filled eyes to see Ennis’ comatose body lying on the pavement a few feet from them, the back of his head blown off. She looked in confusion at Stiles. “Then who shot him?”

“I did.” A man came up to them, and knelt down to where they sat on the pavement, Stiles still clutched tightly in Lydia’s arms. He was older, maybe mid-40s with graying hair and bright blue eyes. He had a gun in his hand, and a radio in the other.

Lydia looked down at his belt, and started slightly as she saw the badge residing there. “You’re a cop!” she exclaimed.

“Sergeant Christ Argent at your service ma’am.” Lydia stiffened at the name. “I was walking by when I saw you two, and assessing the situation, decided on the best available course of action. Are you two alright?”

“Yes, we’re fine.” Stiles finally answered curtly, glaring up at him. “We didn’t need your help. We were fine on our own.”

“I can see that.” Argent answered back coolly. “Does your dad know you’re out and about? Where is your bodyguard? It’s dangerous out here, as you have clearly just noticed. I’m going to have to call this in.”

Stiles shot to his feet, and put his hand on Argent’s arm. “Wait! Not yet. Look, I know I screwed up, ok, but I really don’t want my dad to find out about this. He’ll kill me. Or send me back to France. Please.”

Argent searched his face for a long moment, before finally nodding. “Fine. You got five minutes to get your ass out of here before backup arrives.”

“Thank you.” Stiles said sincerely. “We’ll be gone in two.”

“But the girl needs medical attention. I’ll need her to come with me.”

Lydia watched the two of them speaking, the knowledge dawning on her that they clearly knew each other. This wasn’t good. Lydia knew all about the Argents. They were the leaders of the police force in Beacon Hills and were ruthless. They had been trying to hunt down and pin the Overlord for a hell of a long time. The only time they ever got close was 5 years ago, back when Derek was still Second-in-Command. He had had an illicit love affair with Kate Argent, the Chief’s daughter. He thought she loved him, but she was just using him as a way into the organization. Kate killed Derek’s sister, Laura, the former Rat Foreman and his mother, Talia, the former treasurer. It was a black day for the Overlord. Never before had anything like this happen, and there was hell to pay. The Overlord demoted Derek into Laura’s position as Rat Foreman, and appointed Morrell as his new Second-in-Command. He then began the war against the Argents, first by killing Victoria Argent, the wife of one Chris Argent…

who just happened to be standing in front of her. Great. 

Kate was also tracked down and killed. After Kate’s death, both sides came to a bit of an understanding although tensions still ran high. This was definitely not good. It was known that to associate with any Argent or anyone on the police force was an instant death sentence, no questions asked. The last statement Argent made finally trickled into Lydia’s addled brain.

What!? There was no way she could go with him. The Overlord would kill her; he might just kill her anyway when he found out about what happened today regardless. With all of this running through her head, Lydia decided to make a quiet getaway before she got caught up with anything having to do with the Argents. Holding the wound in her side, she hoisted herself upwards and began to stumble away. She only made it a few yards before she collapsed once more.

Surprisingly, she didn’t hit the hard ground as she expected, but rather, a pair of strong arms caught her gently. Looking up into Stiles’ concerned eyes; she let out a half smile. “Why do we always end up like this?” He quietly teased her.

“Maybe it’s because I just keep falling for you.” She replied, the words coming out before she registered what she had said. He stared at her in slight shock, and she shrugged once, “What can I say? It’s those damn whiskey colored eyes of yours. They keep dragging me back in for another drink.” She smiled once more before losing consciousness completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! New update! I'm sorry I'm so sporadic with the updates. College does that a person. 
> 
> But Stiles and Lydia! Freak yes! I just love them together so much. I've had a lot of fun developing their relationship, especially in the upcoming chapters. 
> 
> I hope ya'll all caught that dialogue lift! The conversation between Stiles and Ennis was actually the same conversation between Stiles and the Chemist on the show with just a few added words (just saying for copyright reasons). I also lifted the same basic plot as the show with the Argents and the Hales, and I hope I've dropped enough hints about the Overlord's actual identity! 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading and don't forget to leave kudos and comments! I always appreciate them :)


	11. Waking Up in Strange Places

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I was just looking at this story, and I realized I haven't updated in over 2 months. Yikes. Life has been super crazy, and subsequently, so are my updates! Apologies for that. So most likely expect strange updates from here on. Anyway, here is the next chapter! I think this has been my favorite chapter that I've written so far, so I hope ya'll enjoy! As always, I appreciate any kudos or comments!

The first sensation Lydia became aware of was softness completely surrounding her. She rubbed her hand absentmindedly across the fabric on which she lay. She had never felt such softness ever before in her life, much less lain in it. Opening her eyes slowly, she blinked languidly a couple of times, allowing the view above her to come into focus. All she saw was a deep expanse of red. Tilting her head, she finally put the pieces together. It was a canopy!

She was in a large bed (the softest freaking bed she has ever been in). Slowly inching her way up, she felt a stab of pain in her abdomen, and her hand flew to her side, a breathy gasp escaping her. Her fingers felt the ridges of bandages wrapped around her midsection, and for the first time, she realized she wasn’t wearing anything other than a thin nightgown. Pulling the silk sheets up to cover her chest, she looked around the room, suspicion narrowing her eyes.

“Glad to see you’re awake. I was beginning to get a little worried about you.”

Lydia’s head snapped to the dark corner where the voice emitted. Wincing at the whiplash she just gave herself, she clutched the blankets closer. “Who the hell are you? And where the hell am I?” She demanded.

A small chuckle escaped from the dark corner, and the owner of the laugh stood up and stepped forward into the light. He was a dark-skinned man with a shaved head, a goatee and a small soul patch. He was dressed plainly, but had a stethoscope wrapped around his neck. He was obviously some sort of physician or doctor. He stepped closer, and Lydia shrank back into the bed.

“I’m not going to hurt you. My name is Alan Deaton. I am the personal physician of Lord Stilinski. You-”

Lydia cut in before he could continue, “Lord Stilinski?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes. You are in his mansion at this very moment.”

“Aw, hell no.” Lydia started panicking. “I can’t be here, you don’t understand, he’s going to kill me when he finds out!” Her eyes wide and her breath starting to come in short pants, she threw back the sheets and clambered out of bed, ignoring the stab of pain in her side. Her legs, weak from disuse, collapsed beneath her and she promptly fell to the floor. The man, Deaton, rushed over to her. Helping her up, he guided her back into the bed, and covered her back up with the blankets. Weakly protesting, Lydia tried to get out of the bed once more, but Deaton pushed back firmly on her shoulder.

“You are not yet well enough to be moving around. The gunshot wound to your abdomen was very severe. You also sustained some internal bleeding, and multiple lacerations and bruises. I’m assuming the man the Sergeant shot did all this to you?” He said all of this matter-of-factly, but there was concern laced in his voice in his question.

“No, I mean, yes, it was him, but there were also two other guys…” Lydia trailed off, unsure how much to tell him.

“Did they do anything else to you, anything else that I need to know about and check? Stiles said your clothes were in quite a disarray.” He raised his eyebrow in a knowing question.

“No.” Lydia answered in a small voice. “No, they didn’t do anything else. I escaped before he could.”

Deaton let a small rush of air. “Good, that’s good. Now, I am prescribing general bed rest, and some painkillers. I’ll be back to check on you in an hour or so. And try not to move, I don’t want you to rip out the stitches; I’d hate to see my nice work go to waste.” He finished with a smile.

Feeling eased by his friendly and professional manner, Lydia smiled tentatively back. Returning the smile, he turned and walked towards the door. Just as he reached it, Lydia said quietly, “Thank you.”

Stopping, he turned and with another soft smile, he replied, “You’re welcome.”

As soon as the door closed softly behind Deaton, Lydia was easing herself off the bed once more. She knew she was injured, that it was better to stay in the bed and rest, but she couldn’t stay here. She’d already been gone too long. Lydia paused. How long had she been here anyway? What day was it? She shook her head. That would have to come later. First and foremost, she needed to get out of the mansion (and find some real clothes, preferably her own). Her feet hit the soft carpet of the floor once more, and this time she managed to sway unsteadily to her feet. Clutching the bedpost as she stumbled, she rested her forehead against its slightly cool surface. Staying there for a moment, she gathered her strength. A surge of determination ran through her. She pushed herself upright once more, holding her side. Reaching the door, she paused and placed her ear to the door, listening for voices. Hearing nothing, she grabbed the door handle, and pulled down.

The door wouldn’t open.

Slightly panicked, Lydia twisted the door handle once more. The door wouldn’t budge. She was locked in! Damn that Stilinski, she muttered angrily to herself.

Turning around, she surveyed the room for anything to use as a weapon or another exit. Locating the window in her scan, she stumbled over to it, and tried to open the latch. It wouldn’t budge either. She slammed her hand against the window. Twisting around once more, she saw two smaller doors that presumably led to a closet and bathroom. She opened the closet door, which was closest, to be awarded with a sight of elaborate dresses that hung from cloth hangers. Shutting the door, she made her way over the bathroom, her strength starting to fail fast.

She opened it to see a windowless bathroom with no external objects lying around. Her back to the inside of the doorframe, she slid down to the floor in despair. She stayed there for what seemed like several hours, but was probably only minutes before hearing the door to the room snick open. She didn’t even lift her head or acknowledge his presence as Stiles dropped down to the floor across from her, his legs intercrossed with hers in the small space of the doorframe.

“Sooo…” He started softly.

Lydia looked up with bruised steel in her gaze. “What am I doing here? And why did you lock me in?”

Stiles floundered for a moment in consideration before continuing, his eyes turning a darker shade of amber. “Well, you were pretty badly hurt, and Argent wanted to take you into the station, but I figured you didn’t want to mess around with the cops, so I volunteered to take you home to my house and have Deaton take care of you. In exchange, I had to promise to keep you under guard so Argent could come back and ask some questions.”

Lydia raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him. “Plus, it keeps you in one place. You keep running away from me,” Stiles finished with a smile.

Lydia sighed deeply. “Look Stiles-“

“Now see that’s not fair. You know my name, but I have yet to learn yours. I figure I should have a name to put to the face of the girl that keeps falling for me.”

Lydia pursed her lips in consideration for several minutes before answering. “Lydia,” she said softly, “my name is Lydia.”

“Well Lydia, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Stiles Stilinski.” He stuck out his hand to shake. Lydia looked down at his hand with raised eyebrows before tentatively shaking it once. His hand was warm and firm. It was nice.

“I already knew your name. You didn’t need to tell me it again.”

“I know. But this was a formal introduction. From me to you. Now we’re on equal footing.”

Lydia quirked another eyebrow, and leaned forward slightly. “Oh, we are, are we? Well then Stiles, why don’t you let me walk out that door?”

Stiles leaned forward as well, their breaths intermingling in the small space between them. “I’d love too, but I can’t just let you walk out that door in your condition. It wouldn’t be right.”

“And locking me in is?”

“If it keeps you safe, then yes.”

“I don’t need your protection.”

“You clearly do since the last two times we have met, someone has tried to kill you.”

“Maybe it’s because of you. Maybe you’re my bad luck charm.”

Stiles searched her eyes, inches away from his own before letting out a small chuckle, and leaned his head back against the doorframe. “Perhaps so, perhaps so.” He tilted his head, “That still isn’t going to change my mind.”

Lydia leaned back in frustration as well. “So now what Stiles? You just keep me locked in here forever?”

“No. Just until you are well enough again.”

“I don’t have time to sit around and wait to get better. Besides, I’m pretty sure there’s people out looking for me right now.”

“Like the Overlord?”

Lydia hustled him to the ground and straddled him before he could take his next breath. Clenching her hand in a fist, she held it threateningly above his face. “What do you know about the Overlord?” She hissed through her teeth.

“Woah! Woah! Take it easy Catwoman! It was just a hunch, but thanks for the confirmation. So I’m correct in assuming that you work for the Overlord and it was he that ordered the theft of the diamonds. This clears up quite a bit. Although,” he pursed his lips, “it doesn’t quite clear up the matter of the man in black you were so scared of.”

Lydia stared at him, perplexed and just a little bit stunned. “How did you figure all that out?”

“I got my sources.”

“Is that so?” Lydia asked disbelievingly.

“Alright, so I overheard my father and Argent discussing it. No big deal.” He looked her up and down, his gaze slightly focusing in on her chest. He blushed. “So, are you going to get off me now or are we going to make out?” Lydia huffed at him and rolled her eyes before pushing herself off of him and standing up. He quickly scrambled to his feet. She crossed her arms over her chest as an extra layer of protection.

Scratching the back of his head, Stiles tentatively asked, “Do you want a blanket or robe or something?”

“A robe would be fine.”

Nodding, Stiles made his way over the closet and carefully selected a silk robe. Walking back over to her, he held out his arm. Taking it from him, she began to put it on. “OW!” she hissed sharply as she pulled on her stitches trying to put the robe on. With one arm in one sleeve, and the other hanging loose, she stared at Stiles, daring him to make a comment. He held up his hands and shook his head. Lydia caught a smile dance across his face before he bowed his head hiding his face from hers. Lydia raised her arm again to try and stick it through the sleeve, but slower this time. She managed to carefully maneuver her arm successfully through the sleeve, and pulled the robe closed, cinching it.

Stiles watched her with raised eyebrows. She pretended not to notice him, and made her way over the window. Stiles followed a half-beat behind her. Turning sharply, she rounded on him. “Do you mind?” She asked baiting.

“No, go ahead,” he gestured. Lydia narrowed her eyes at him before twisting around-

and falling freaking once again. Stiles instantly leapt forward and caught her. This was getting ridiculous. How many times had she fallen into his arms since she met him? She had lost count. She stared into his eyes, wondering for a brief moment…

“Well, well. Here we are again.” He said with a smirk.

Lydia lost whatever thought she had and resorted to glaring at him. “I swear you’re like kryptonite or something.” She muttered under her breath.

She huffed at the smile that lit up his face. His stupid mole-peppered face that looked like an angel. What the hell was wrong with her? Laughing, Stiles scooped her up in his arms and carried her over to the bed, placing her gently in between the sheets. Gaping at the sheer audacity he exhibited, she did nothing but let him carry her to the bed open-mouthed.

As soon as she was settled, she pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you dare get any ideas, Batman. I’m no Selina Kyle. I don’t fall for guys like you so easy.”

“Guys like me?” he questioned.

“You know,” she shrugged her shoulders, “Rich, smooth-talking guys that have nothing better to do than screw with other people.”

“I do like to screw with other people, but you might be my exception.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I’m intrigued by you,” he blushed slightly, “and I think you’re beautiful.”

Lydia stared slack jawed at him for several moments before snapping her jaw shut. “Hmm, humph, well, um, thank-k you.” She finally managed to stutter out. What was it about him that caught her completely off guard? She appraised him with new eyes. He smiled at her once and patted her hand before walking towards the door. “You’re not so bad yourself,” she threw after him. He stopped and looked back at her with a slightly stunned look. Catching himself, he shook his head and cleared his throat.

After a moment, he replied, “Get some sleep Lydia. You’ve had an eventful day. I’ll check on you later, ok?”

“Can’t wait.” Lydia replied in a slightly dry tone. He shook his head, opened the door, and closed it firmly behind him, the lock clicking into place. She shook her head. What was she doing? What was going through the thick skull of hers? She can’t like him. She made a promise to herself after Jackson, and besides, she was just a rat. People like him, and people like her don’t mix. It’s just the facts. Lydia slid down into the soft bed, and lay there quietly, indistinguishable thoughts running through her head. One rose above the rest that haunted her dreams as she slipped into sleep: what if she was actually falling for him? And if so, what then?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I love writing Stiles and Lydia interactions! They are so much fun to play off each other. I do have more of this story written, it's just a matter of finding time to post it, so stay tuned!


	12. Washing Away All Wounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say that I have not forgotten this story! I still have plans to finish it, and I have the outline for the rest of the story, it's just a matter of sitting down and writing it. I've been having some writer's block regarding this fic, so hopefully the new season can revive me! Anyway, here's a new chapter just to tide ya'll over till I get around to posting another one. Thanks for the support and please leave kudos or comments!

_Hands grabbing her. Forcing her down onto the hard ground. Her screams rent the air as her clothes were viciously ripped from her body. Through the tears leaking from her eyes, she could see HIS face leering down at her. He slapped her hard across the cheek, snapping her head to the side. She rolled it back slowly to see him sit up and start to unlace his trousers. He began to laugh, and didn’t stop. The sound of his laughter ripped through her like a gunshot._

Lydia shot up in the bed, a strangled scream tearing from her throat. She saw a flailing movement out of the corner of her eye, and she turned sharply her heart in her mouth, to see Stiles start awake from where he had been asleep in the chair next to her bed.

Clutching his chest, he glanced wildly around the room before settling his eyes on Lydia. “What’s wrong? Are you ok?” He asked her worriedly.

Lydia felt her heartbeat slow down from its rapid pace as she smiled slightly at his panic. She steeled her smile before he could notice and replied, “I’m fine Stiles.” She rolled her eyes before continuing. “What the hell are you doing? Are you watching over me while I sleep? Like my very own guardian angel?” She quirked an eyebrow at him, the terror from her nightmare fading as she teased him.

“Ha-Ha. I was concerned about you. I didn’t want you running off.”

“I think we already established that I can’t really go anywhere.”

“True. But given our past encounters I’d rather not take any chances.” He paused, nervously gulping, “besides, like I said, I was concerned about you. You were injured pretty badly.”

Lydia’s face fell into a frown at his words. With her eyes glazing over, staring into nothing, relieving the recent events. Her hand ghosted down her side, lightly resting over where her healing tissue still throbbing with a dull ache of pain.

Stiles’ gaze followed her hand’s descent, and his tongue shot out to wet his dry lips. His eyes flickered back up to Lydia’s face before finally resting his gaze back on her side. “Should I take a look at it?” he finally asked tentatively.

Lydia snapped out of her daze, tearing herself from her memories and stared at him disbelievingly. “No, I don’t want you to take a look at it! That’s just…” she paused as the heat rose in her cheeks. Just him looking at her was enough to make her weak in the knees, if she let him closer; actually touch her sensitive skin, she honestly didn’t know what’d do. She’d rather not tempt herself with thoughts of his long slender fingers exploring her body…

“That’s just what?” He asked her, snatching her from her meandering thoughts.

_Pull yourself together_! Lydia thought furiously before answering. “That’s just a little past my comfort zone.”

Both of his hands shot up in surrender. In a pacifying tone he said “Alright. I don’t want to push you. I’ll go get Deaton.” Stiles started to stand up, but Lydia held out a hand stopping him.

“Wait. Please, I’m fine,” she said with a smile. “It doesn’t hurt.” Both of them fell into awkward silence as Lydia fidgeted with the smooth comforter.

“So-"

“What-"

They both spoke at the same time. Lydia blushed and cleared her throat before continuing. “So, I think I would like to take a shower.” Stiles started to answer, but Lydia cut in first, “by MYSELF.”

Stiles once again held up his hands in surrender. “I wasn’t going to offer. But thanks for automatically assuming.” He winked at her cheekily.

She rolled her eyes at him to negate the blush creeping up her cheeks. “At least let me help you to the bathroom. No offense, but you don’t look like you could take 5 steps without collapsing. And we both know how you would hate to fall for me again, don’t you?”

Lydia sighed. She knew he was right, but that didn’t make it annoy her any less. “Fine. You can help me to the door, but then you have to leave.”

“Alright. And don’t worry. I’m a perfect gentleman.” Lydia scoffed slightly at that. Stiles had the gall to look offended at her. “Just help me to the shower Batman.”

“Sure thing Selina,” he quipped right back at her.

Pulling the sheets and comforter back, he helped her sit up swing her legs over the side of the bed and onto the floor. Standing up, she swayed slightly into him, his whole length pressing into her side. She pushed off him, and started to hobble to the door. He held her hand, their fingers intertwined, the whole way. It seemed like the longest walk of her life.

She was acutely aware of everything around her, especially focusing in on the warmth wrapped around her small hand. Reaching the bathroom door, she quietly thanked him, out of breath from that short walk. But she had been seriously injured; she argued to herself, it was natural that she should be out of breath (not because of his closeness).

He patted her hand, seemingly reluctant to let go, before slipping out of her grasp and walking over to the main door, letting himself out. Lydia stared after him, perplexed. He acted like such a gentleman around her, but was constantly making innuendos. She shook her head. It was probably just his way of flirting.

Opening the bathroom door, Lydia entered and then closed the door behind her. She leaned against its smooth wood for a moment, catching her breath. She might have to take this shower sitting down. Lydia cursed under her breath. She had never been this weak before!

Pushing herself off the door, she straightened her spine and walked over to the counter. Lydia stared at herself in the mirror. There was someone different looking back at her. Someone she didn’t recognize. There were little cuts across her cheekbones, and several bruises marred her jaw and she had a black eye.

Curious to see what the rest of the damage was to her body, she quickly stripped out of the robe Stiles had given her, and the thin nightgown she had been dressed in. She gasped at what she saw. Large bruises covered her ribs from where she had been beaten. The wound on her side was still bandaged over, but it was throbbing painfully. There were additional bruises on her shoulders and thighs from where Ennis had gripped her tight, forcing her down on the ground, ready to mount her like some whore.

A single tear fell from Lydia’s eye.

Blinking furiously, she wiped it away. She was not some pansy-ass damsel in distress. Screw that. She had lived through something horrendous, and she was the stronger for it (mentally at least, if not physically yet).

Straightening her spine, she turned around to figure out the shower situation. It was simple enough. The knob pulled up to turn on the water, left for hot, and right for cold.

Her fingers danced over the bandages wrapped around her midsection. Should she take them off? She was pretty sure they shouldn’t get wet. Maybe a shower wasn’t such a good idea. But she was dirty and smelled, and just wanted to be clean. Of everything. Making a decision, she unwrapped the bandages from her abdomen, rolled them up, and placed them on the counter. The wound to her side was stitched tight, but her flesh was still tender. She would have to be very careful not to open it up again.

Pulling back the shower curtain, she stepped inside fully and closed it behind her. The hot water streamed over her as she sat in its warm embrace for several minutes, letting it wash away all the crap she had fallen into. Slowly, methodically, she washed her hair and body, being very careful around her wound. She had to sit down on the lip of the tub occasionally to catch her breath, but she was determined to power through.

She stayed in the shower for another minute or two after she was done, reluctant to get out and get dressed. She felt safe in the shower, removed from the world and her memories. The water washing her clean. But she knew it couldn’t last. Her fingers were already wrinkly and the water was quickly turning cold.

Turning off the water, she pulled the shower curtain back, and stepped out. The mirror was fogged over from the steam, and she wiped a hand across it, revealing her bruised face. Staring into her reflection, she wondered how Scott and Kira were. What they were doing; if they were searching for her. How long had it been? A day, maybe two? Had the Overlord even realized she was missing yet?

All these questions ran in circles around her brain. Shaking her head, her hands white knuckled, she gripped the edge of the counter. Her head was bent forward, her breath panting. _Get control of yourself!_ Finally, her breath slowed down and her chest stopped heaving so rapidly.

She spun around, looking for a towel, unable to stay in the bathroom another minute, cooped up with her thoughts. She grabbed a fluffy white towel (holy crap it was soft) and wrapped it around her body, tucking it in securely. Walking slowly to the bathroom door, she opened it and peeked her head out. She was alone. She quickly stepped out and limped over to the closet to look for something to wear. Just as she reached the closet door, the lock clicked in the main door, and it swung open to reveal Deaton. Lydia clutched the towel to herself tightly, embarrassed.

“Oh, sorry, Lydia. I didn’t realize you weren’t dressed yet,” he said calmly, as if she wasn’t standing there naked, only covered with a towel. “I should have knocked first. My apologies.”

Lydia softened at his calm demeanor, but still kept the towel clutched tightly to her. He may have already seen all her injuries, but she still felt self-conscious. “It’s ok, I was just about to look for something to wear. I didn’t feel like putting back on that nightgown.”

“I figured as much,” he said with a smile. “There is a nice collection of sleepwear in the closet to the far right. I’ll leave you to it, and come back in about 5 minutes to redress your wound.”

“Ok, thank you,” Lydia said in a small voice.

With a smile, Deaton nodded once and turned around, closing the door behind him. After he left, Lydia opened the closet door and perused through the selection. She chose a thin, midnight blue satin sleepwear set with white lace adorning the top of the cups of the nightgown as well as the hem. There were also little shorts that fell mid-thigh which were also hemmed in lace. She put it on and marveled at the way it felt against her skin.

After dressing, she moved back to the bed, already exhausted from the activity she had done today, even though it wasn't much. Although she would never admit how much it wore her out to Stiles. He would just make another point about why she should stay longer. She got into the bed; letting out a satisfied sigh as the welcoming comfort of the bed enveloped her tired body.

A minute later, there was a knock on the door, and Deaton entered. He moved to her bedside, and she lifted up her top to let him examine the wound. “It looks great so far,” he told her. “Nothing to worry about as of yet. I’ll keep an eye on it over the next couple of days to make sure it doesn’t get infected.”

He swabbed the area with alcohol, causing Lydia to grit her teeth from the sting. After swabbing it, he pulled out a length of gauze, helped her sit up, and wrapped it securely around her midsection.

“I’m going to give you a few painkillers for now. It should help dull the pain.”

“Thanks Doc.”

“No problem,” he answered with a sincere smile as he gave her two pills and a glass of water to take them with. She quickly swallowed them down and took a sip of the water. It felt like soothing velvet against the inside of her throat. She hadn’t realized how thirsty (and hungry) she was until that moment.

Deaton seemed to realize that fact too and said, “You’re probably hungry. I’ll get someone to bring you some food.”

Lydia smiled at him as her stomach let out a half-growl. “That would be wonderful. Thank you again.”

“It’s my job, ma’am. It’s my pleasure.” Standing up, he gave a little half bow in her direction, and then walked to the door, opened, and then locked it behind him as he left.

“Someone order room service?” Lydia glanced up as Stiles waltzed into the room, a covered tray balanced on one arm.

“Wow. I guess I should start calling you Alfred now.” Lydia said, a mischievous glint in her eye.

“Alfred? Please, I don’t have half as much class as him.”

Lydia let out a little laugh, and Stiles smiled cheekily at her. Settling the tray on her lap, he whisked off the cover, and let her eyes feast upon the food. There was a large bowl of soup sitting in the middle of the tray, surrounded by crackers and pieces of bread.

“Sick food for the sick girl?” She asked him, quirking an eyebrow.

“More like the best food for the best guest. Margie makes a mean chicken noodle soup.”

Lydia’s smile fell at the word, “guest”. She wasn’t a guest, but she wasn’t exactly a prisoner either. She didn’t know what she was anymore. With her mood shifted into melancholy, she didn’t answer Stiles, and instead directed her attention to the food. She dove right into the soup and crackers. It was actually rather tasty.

When she was finished, Stiles took the tray from her lap and settled into the chair next to her. She refused to look at him. What was she supposed to say? Stiles regarded her for a moment before speaking.

“I’m sorry if I said something wrong.” He fidgeted, his fingers interlocking and unlocking. “I just don’t quite know what to say to you. I’ve never really been like this before.”

“What, shell-shocked by my beauty?” Lydia answered, trying to make light.

“Well,” he blushed, “you are beautiful, but that’s not it. I’ve just never met someone like you. You are so confident and fierce. You kind of intimidate me. Especially like when you knocked me out or when you tackled me to the ground. It was kind of awesome, yet terrifying. You’re different from anyone I’ve ever known. And it’s not just that, you have this look in your eyes. Like you’ve seen what the world is capable of, and are stronger because of it,” he paused for a moment, “I don’t know,” he finally lapsed off in awkward silence.

“I never thanked you. For saving me from him.” Lydia finally said quietly. She stared off into nothing as she continued, “I’m not as confident as you think I am. I was so scared in that alley. Being so helpless, and knowing what he wanted. It paralyzed me. But somehow, I snapped out of it, decided that I wasn’t going to let this happen, and stabbed him in the shoulder. I could hardly think while it was happening, being vulnerable like that. It was awful.”

Lydia paused, and Stiles said nothing waiting for her to continue. “I should have stabbed him in the face, that fucker.” Tears started to fall from her traitorous eyes. “His death should have been at my hands. It was my right.”

Stiles shifted in his chair, coming up onto the bed and putting his arms around her, just holding her and saying nothing as she finally collapsed into sobs. Lydia cried until she just physically couldn’t anymore, and fell asleep, wrapped securely in Stiles’ arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter, so if it is a little rough, please take mercy on me. 
> 
> Also, as a side note. This is an AU, sorta 1940s with a twist of royalty, and as such, comics have been out since the 30s. And I just love when the show makes references to Batman, so I am too :) So please just flow with it, there's not a lot of depth to the time period or setting, it's kinda just a mishmash of genres.


End file.
